LAS VEGAS – Nikita Krylov met the media Saturday after his win over Modestas Bukauskas at UFC 324.
Krylov (30-11 MMA, 12-9 UFC) stopped Bukauskas (19-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) with just three seconds left in their light heavyweight efight on the prelims at T-Mobile Arena. In the first four fights of the event at UFC 324, three were TKOs at the buzzer – Krylov’s and two with one second left in the first round.
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Krylov snapped a two-fight skid of first-round KOs with the win. He said the first knockout loss, to former title challenger Dominick Reyes in April 2025, was the first time he had been knocked down, let alone knocked out. All his loses before that were decisions or submissions. He returned less than four months later to fight Bogdan Guskov and again was knocked out in the first round.
So the redemptive arc, finishing Bukauskas just before the horn, was a big one for the 33-year-old Ukrainian.
“I think (the depression went away) today in the octagon with the victory,” Krylov said through a translator at his post-fight news conference. “The emotional swings that happen with you after those types of losses that I experienced – before those two, I’d never even been knocked down before. But I lost twice, and both knockouts.
“That’s a huge thing, mentally, for me to get over. I changed a lot of things after those two losses. You start asking yourself what’s wrong. Is it time? What is it? I changed my team, my academy, my head coach.”
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Krylov now wants to fight former champion Jan Blachowicz in a rematch after his buzzer-beater finish. Krylov lost to Blachowicz by submission in 2018.
“(I called him out) specifically because it was a very important fight to me,” Krylov said. “When the original fight happened with Jan, it was the first time the UFC was in Moscow. It was an important event for me, but that entire camp leading up to that event was a horrible camp for me. I was very, very sick and it got even worse the week of the fight. On Monday of fight week, I was already at 205 (pounds) and I could not get up in weight and could not get any strength in me. By the time the fight happened Saturday, I was not in the right shape.
“I respect him so much, but with his age, he’s probably not going to be around for so long. … I realize he’s likely not going to stick around too long, and I feel like I want to get that one back before any of the others. … With him, there’s only a short window of opportunity where I can catch him when he’s still dangerous and not on the way out.”
From 2018-2022, Krylov had a proverbial murderer’s row of opponents. Starting with the loss to future champ Blachowicz, his opponents included former interim title challenger Ovince Saint Preux, future champ Glover Teixeira, future champ Magomed Ankalaev and former title challengers Alexander Gustaffson and Volkan Oezdemir.
Check out Krylov’s post-fight interview in the video above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Nikita Krylov says UFC 324 lifted depression, wants Blachowicz again
